If you’re new to Facebook or just considering whether to join, this chapter can help you to get up and running quickly. As Facebook continues to grow, and at the rate at which it’s growing, at times it can be hard to keep up with all the updates, such as enhancements and new features. Although getting around Facebook isn’t exactly hard, this chapter covers some of the basic tools and features.

This chapter is from the book

If you’re an experienced Facebook user, feel free to skim through this chapter or skip it entirely and go to the next chapter, where you’ll learn about establishing a corporate presence.

What you won’t find in this chapter is an exact step-by-step process. Actually, you won’t find that anywhere throughout this book. You want actionable and descriptive information that can help you immediately, not a step-by-step tutorial.

Getting Started

First of all, congrats! If you’re considering whether to join, if you just joined, or if you are an experienced user, you’re part of one of the fastest growing and largest social networks in history. Millions of people share your same interests, hobbies, career goals, and just about anything else you can think of. To find all these friends, networking opportunities, and groups, you have to know how and where to look. You also have to take the time to invest in building your presence on Facebook.

Therefore, let’s get you up and running as quickly as possible so that you can start reaping all the wonderful benefits that Facebook has to offer.

To start, go to www.facebook.com. When the page loads, you’ll notice a section for new users to sign up, as shown in Figure 1.1. Pop in your basic information, click Sign Up, and we’re off to the races.

Figure 1.1The Facebook landing page where you can either sign up for an account or log in to your account.

After you register and log in to Facebook for the first time, you need to do a few things immediately.